An automated system in the site that checks if a post contains a banned word.Moderators who decide whether to accept an "offensive" flag.People (with over 2000 rep) who edit posts to remove words that they themselves find offensive.People (with over 15 rep) who flag posts as "offensive".Since they have an incentive to avoid having their posts flagged (since the post might be deleted), presumably many are making an effort to avoid language that they understand to be offensive. People who post questions/answers/comments.Who should decide what counts as "offensive" within StackOverflow?Ĭurrently, the decision is made jointly by: So, to refocus the discussion: What do we do about words that many people consider to be offensive but others do not? Can posters/editors/moderators have clearer guidelines than the "reasonable person" litmus test?
This would mean more consistent moderation and a reduced workload for moderators.įor the broader case of the "offensive" flag, what would be a better guide than "a reasonable person"? What's worked in other communities?Įdit: I am not asking: "Is the word 'ghetto' racist?" That's the question that many people seem to be responding to (partly because somebody misleadingly changed the question title to that shortly after it was posted). Are we reasonable or not? I don't think it can, or should, be up to SO moderators to make that call.įor the specific case of "ghetto", could that be put in a list of words that are automatically flagged? It's not at all necessary for on-topic discussions on SO.
The reason I flagged the answer is that it uses the word "ghetto", which I and many other people (easily seen from a Google search) consider racist. Or maybe SO could use a better guideline for the "offensive" flag. So, logically, either the flag should be accepted, or else I am not a reasonable person. Later, I checked my user profile to find that the flag had been declined because "a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it". SO took me through the process where it asked for the reason for flagging (I chose "offensive") and explained that you should only choose this if "a reasonable person would consider it rude, offensive, or hate speech".
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